Comrade Ngo Tri Can - from a member of the Red Peasant Association to a veteran revolutionary cadre

“Brothers, sisters, compatriots…

Nothing can be achieved without unity.

Even the strongest rope can break.

One hundred people learn to grow

Want to organize properly

Then we must also take care and do…”.

That was one of the familiar revolutionary songs that comrade Ngo Tri Can and his comrades shouted loudly in unison during book and newspaper commentary sessions in 1930-1931.

Comrade Ngo Tri Can (1912-2012)^[1]Born in Nhan Trung village, Bach Ngoc commune, Do Luong canton, Anh Son district (now Lam Son commune, Do Luong district), Nghe An province. Born into a poor farming family, Ngo Tri Can had to give up his studies early to "sell his face to the ground, his back to the sky", struggling to maintain his life.

As a farmer who had to endure the double oppression of the colonial feudal government, comrade Ngo Tri Can soon had the desire to contribute his strength to the cause of liberating his homeland and country.

In the summer of 1927, comrade Ton Quang Duyet (from Thanh Chuong) was a member of the Phuc Viet Association and was sent to teach in Nhan Trung to build a base. Under his active activities, from 1927 to the end of 1929, in Anh Son there were 37 members from the communes: Do Luong, Thuan Trung, Bach Ha... During this time, comrade Ngo Tri Can participated in the literacy and patriotic literature and poetry propaganda sessions organized by the Association. Thanks to that, the national spirit was further strengthened within the farmer Ngo Tri Can.

At the end of March 1930, the Anh Son Provisional Party Committee was established to promote the work of developing the Party. In just a short time, the General Committees were established one after another to take on the task of leading the mass struggle movement. The Bach Ngoc people's struggle movement was under the direction of the Do Luong General Committee with comrade Hoang Tran Lien as Secretary.

Implementing the Provincial Party Committee's policy, on May 28, 1930, Anh Son Provincial Party Committee convened a secret meeting with the General Party Committee Secretaries, deciding to conduct a demonstration on a provincial scale with the aim of demanding tax reduction, tax deferral and supporting the demonstration of workers and farmers in Vinh - Ben Thuy, Hanh Lam (Thanh Chuong). The meeting also agreed to take June 1, 1930 as the day of the general demonstration.

After the meeting, the Do Luong General Committee assigned party members to the communes to convey the policy and mobilize the masses. Comrade Ngo Tri Can actively participated in the preparation for the demonstration. On the morning of June 2, 1930, comrade Ngo Tri Can joined the demonstration of the two upper districts of Do Luong and Dang Son to the provincial capital to fight for the demands. When passing the Ro bridge, students of the French-Vietnamese Anh Son School and people going to Luong market responded enthusiastically and joined, making the demonstration even more enthusiastic. Faced with the overwhelming power of the people, the Anh Son District Chief Ha Xuan Hai had to approve the People's Demand. The demonstration ended in victory.

To adapt to the increasingly rising struggle movement of the masses, in June 1930, the Bach Ngoc Commune Party Cell was also promoted to be established under the name of Bach Truat Party Cell. The birth of Bach Truat Party Cell was to ensure the Party's leadership to each village and hamlet. After its birth, the Party members in the cell intensified their mobilization and led the people to participate in many major struggles.

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In the seething atmosphere of the Bach Ngoc people, comrade Ngo Tri Can enthusiastically participated in many major struggles such as: participating in the demonstration on September 8, 1930 to force the puppet feudal government to implement the demands of the masses that the district chief had signed in June 1930; the struggle to break the rich people's rice warehouses to distribute to the people to relieve hunger at the end of 1930... With his active activities, Ngo Tri Can was admitted to the Red Farmers' Association.

Under the leadership of the Party cell, comrade Ngo Tri Can and the Farmers' Association mobilized people to abandon bad customs, organized classes to learn the national language, and lectured on literature and poetry. Thanks to that, the masses' trust in the Party and the Farmers' Association increased.

In 1931, the people's fighting spirit was increasingly raised, many major struggles took place and achieved certain results. In April 1931, comrade Ngo Tri Can and the people of Nhan Trung, Phuc Hau, and Trac Thanh villages gathered to demonstrate and listen to speeches denouncing the crimes of the feudal puppet government. Continuing the activity, he and the people of Bach Ngoc coordinated with the people of Vinh Giang (now Giang Son commune) to conduct a demonstration with over 700 participants.

Faced with the growth of the mass movement, the French colonialists and their puppet government intensified their policy of terror. In Do Luong, the enemy moved to set up posts at Qua Temple, Nhan Trung Communal House, etc. In addition, they also set up a system of gangs and guard posts to monitor and control security. The enemy repeatedly launched raids and arrests, causing many party members to fall into the hands of the enemy, causing the Party bases to collapse. Faced with the difficult revolutionary situation, comrade Ngo Tri Can and other party members and patriotic masses temporarily withdrew into secret activities.

During the democratic revolutionary movement of 1936-1939, the Party organization in Bach Ngoc was gradually restored, continued to operate, and led the masses to demand people's rights, democracy, freedom, food, and peace according to the Party's policy. During this time, to gather forces, legal mass associations were established one after another. The Nhan Trung Village Friendship Association, with comrade Bui Dinh Dat as President and comrade Ngo Tri Can as Vice President, was considered the most influential organization. Under the leadership of comrade Ngo Tri Can and his colleagues, the association carried out activities to help each other in life, organized troupes to perform plays to encourage patriotism among the people. In addition, comrade Ngo Tri Can and the organization also mobilized the people to fight directly against the feudal colonial government.

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In 1938, when the French colonialists increased poll tax and land tax by 8%, under the leadership of the Party cell, comrade Ngo Tri Can organized a meeting at home and drafted a proposal calling for tax reduction. The draft received over 100 signatures and sent them to the Apostolic Nunciature...

Thanks to his active activities, in 1940, comrade Ngo Tri Can was admitted to the Party Cell of Bach Ngoc commune, responsible for Party work in Nhan Trung village.^[2]During the following period, comrade Ngo Tri Can and the Party Cell continued to lead the people of Nhan Trung in particular and Bach Ngoc in general to participate in the struggles.

Faced with the strong development of the Bach Ngoc revolutionary movement, the French colonialists and their henchmen intensified their repression and hunted down party members and patriotic people. Knowing that comrade Ngo Tri Can was a key cadre, the enemy arrested and imprisoned him at Vinh Prison. Despite facing many types of torture, comrade Ngo Tri Can still maintained his communist will and did not confess. He was sentenced by the Nam Trieu Court of Nghe An province to 4 years in prison and 4 years of house arrest under Verdict No. 26 dated January 30, 1942.

On February 17, 1945, comrade Ngo Tri Can was released. With the desire to continue to contribute his intelligence to the cause of liberating his homeland, he returned to his hometown to make contact for revolutionary activities. He was elected as Deputy Leader of the youth movement in Nhan Trung village.

Under the leadership of Viet Minh, comrade Ngo Tri Can and the people of Bach Ngoc commune joined hands and contributed to the victory of the uprising to seize power in Anh Son on August 23, 1945. Next, the demonstration group of Bach Ngoc commune returned to organize a rally in the locality, receiving the seal handed over by the local leader. Immediately after that, the Provisional Administrative Committee of the villages was established and introduced to the people. Comrade Ngo Tri Can was trusted to become one of the 8 members of the Provisional Administrative Committee of Nhan Trung village.

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In the following period, comrade Ngo Tri Can continued to devote his efforts to the resistance war against the French colonialists and the American imperialists until his retirement. With his contributions to the revolutionary movement, comrade Ngo Tri Can was honored by the Party and the State with many noble awards: Third-class Independence Medal, 60-year Party membership badge, Revolutionary Soldiers imprisoned by the enemy commemorative medal, etc.

Comrade Ngo Tri Can is a shining example of the unceasing determination to strive for the cause of liberating the homeland and the country. Comrade Ngo Tri Can's name has been printed in the Lam Son Commune Party History as a remembrance and gratitude of today's generation for the merits and contributions of the comrade in particular and of veteran revolutionary cadres, heroes and martyrs in general in the nation's long-term resistance war./.

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Note:

Dang Huyen Trang - Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum